Capturing Cambridge
  • search
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Image courtesy of Cambridgeshire Collection

The Mill

The story of the Mill that gave Mill Road its name

The Mill Road windmill may date back to as early as the 13th century, but much about its site and structure remains speculative, only glimpsed in documents and illustrations.

It is not until the late 18th century that clear evidence exists of the site, and it is only with the demolition of the last mill in 1844 that some idea of the mechanics of the final brick mill are revealed in the sale details.

But despite our shadowy knowledge of its past, the windmill has given its name to a major Cambridge arterial road whose surrounding streets were home to 18,000 people at the start of the 21st century. Many of these people will tell their friends they live in the ‛Mill Road area’, but only a few pause to ask ‛Where was the Mill?’.

Timeline

unknown-c.1786 – Post Mill
1792/93–1844 – Brick Tower Mill
c.1845–present – Residential and Commercial Properties

Further information

 

Contribute

Do you have any information about the people or places in this article? If so, then please let us know using the Contact page or by emailing capturingcambridge@museumofcambridge.org.uk.

License

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Dear Visitor,

 

Thank you for exploring historical Cambridgeshire! We hope you enjoy your visit.

 

Did you know that we are a small, independent Museum and that we rely on donations from people like you to survive?

 

If you love Capturing Cambridge, and you are able to, we’d appreciate your support today.

 

Every donation makes a world of difference.

 

Thank you,

The Museum of Cambridge